Grain/Cereal Crops
Maize Armyworm
A very harmful and destructive pest of maize crops is the fruit armyworm or cutworm. Earlier it was considered as an insect of the Americas but now it can be observed all over the world. In 2018, its presence was detected in the districts of northern and western regions of Bangladesh through the first pheromone traps. However, at present, the attack of this insect has increased to a noticeable level in almost all the maize producing districts of Bangladesh. Let's know about the insect in detail.
Introduction to insects
Scientific name: Spodoptera frugiperda
Class: Lepidoptera
On the upper surface of the insect, there are longitudinal dark spots on both sides, and on the head there is a web-like spot in an inverted Y.
Four circular black spots are seen on the eighth segment of the body surface.
The life cycle of an insect consists of four stages – egg, larva, pupa and adult. Insect lives 70-75 days in winter and 30-35 days in summer.
The female lays 100-200 eggs at the base of the plant under the leaves or at the junction of leaves and stems . A female moth can lay 1500-2000 eggs in her life cycle
Type of damage
- As soon as the eggs hatch, the young begin to eat the young parts of the leaves.
- They like to eat the parts wrapped around the ears of the plant and the leaves wrapped around the mocha. After eating the leaves around the mocha, they enter the mocha and eat the soft seeds.
- Although their food demand is low in the initial stage, day by day their food demand increases and gradually they become monsters. At the end of the life cycle, their food requirement is about 50 times the initial condition. If proper measures are not taken to control this pest at the right time, it can destroy the whole crop in one night.
Suppression Management
Regularly inspect and monitor the corn field. If you see insects and insect eggs on the tree, crush them and kill them.
Pheromone traps are very effective in controlling this pest. Bigha Pati will use five pheromone traps.
Crop cycles must be followed. If the same land is cultivated with maize in one season and rice in the next season, the attack of this insect is less noticeable.
National Agricare's "Mortar" 48 EC should be used in case of insect infestation.
Dosage: Mix 7 ml of mortar in every liter of water and spray well.
